Preview of President Lee's first press conference

Tomorrow marks exactly 30 days since South Korea's new president, Lee Jae Myung, took office.

After weeks of traveling across the country and engaging with world leaders, President Lee is expected to lay out his administration's policy direction by taking questions directly from reporters.

Our Presidential Office correspondent Song Yoo-jin has this preview.

Communication has been one of the top priorities for South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, and that will be the focus of his first official press conference on Thursday.

Unlike the traditional format where the President stands at a podium, the event will be held as a town hall meeting, where members of the press corps will sit close to the president, ask questions directly, with no restrictions on topics, from the economy and diplomacy to politics and social issues.

The top office says this is to enable closer communication with more reporters.

What also stands out is the timing.

While former presidents typically held their first press conferences around the one-hundred-day mark, President Lee is meeting the press much earlier.

"This press conference is intended to demonstrate the early stabilization of the Lee Jae Myung administration, which began without a transition committee, and to communicate actively about the direction of state affairs and major policies going forward."

President Lee did not schedule any official events on Wednesday, suggesting he may be devoting his full attention to preparing for the occasion.

In a social media post, the President said he arranged the press conference to reflect on the past 30 days and to renew his commitment for the remaining four years and eleven months of his term by humbly responding to questions from the public, whom he described as "the sovereigns of the nation."

"Eyes are on what messages the President will deliver on pressing issues expected to come up, including trade talks with the United States, the supplementary budget proposal, real estate measures, and his administration's North Korea policy.

Song Yoo-jin, Arirang News.